~~~~~~~~~~
Hayden and Tove walked in the front door to see Kaylen doing yoga in the living room.
"Hey!" she grinned as she jumped up to hug Hayden.
"Hey K," Hayden said, hugging her back. "How ya been?"
"Good...except university is kicking my butt! I've been in some really tough classes this semester. So, now I have to use this as my relaxation," Kaylen replied.
Tove rolled his eyes, "you've been on school break, what kind of stress is that?"
Kaylen sighed, "because Tove, I've been really keyed up at school and for those of us who actually care about that sort of thing, it takes us a few days to calm down."
"I happen to care about plenty of things-- school just didn't happen to be one of them," Tove said with a sly smile.
Hayden shook his head - some things would never change.
"So, what's for dinner?" Tove grinned.
After dinner, Hayden was helping Kaylen clean up the kitchen. The two were silent for several minutes until Hayden spoke up.
"How is she?" Hayden asked quietly.
Kaylen continued rinsing a dish in the sink,"I assume you're talking about Kristen?"
Hayden nodded
"She's doing alright I suppose. I don't see her that often."
"I hope this hasn't affected your friendship," Hayden replied.
"Well, how could it not?" Kaylen asked. "I mean, this girl breaks up with my brother...am I supposed to want to stay her best friend?"
Hayden looked at the sink,"I'm sorry all of this has hurt your friendship with her. You were friends before she and I even got together," Hayden responded.
"Well, yeah but that makes me feel even worse - I pushed you toward her. I didn't realize it would end up like this."
"No one ever knows that its going to end up like this," Hayden said.
�It�s just strange � I mean, I would have never pegged her as the type � Kristen was always too shy to even pursue a guy��
��I don�t really think I need to hear about this right now,� Hayden interrupted her.
�I�m sorry,� Kaylen said quietly. �I don�t think anything happened with this other guy until you had broken up�.if that�s any consolation.�
��well its not,� Hayden could feel his patience wearing thin.
Kaylen remained silent for several minutes.
�How about we hit the coffee shop when we�re done here?� Hayden spoke up. �Mochas on me.�
�Okay, sounds good,� Kaylen smiled.
They finished cleaning up the kitchen and drove to their regular coffee shop in Thornhill.
Hayden parked the car right in front of the shop and Kaylen stepped out of the passenger seat.
She could see in the window of the coffee shop and immediately turned around. �Uh, hey, let�s go someplace else.�
�What?� Hayden said, fiddling with his car keys, unaware of what she had seen. �What are you talking about? This is the best place to go.�
�Seriously, I want to go someplace else,� Kaylen said sternly.
Hayden looked at her, �you�re a bit old for that brat routine Kaylen��
Kaylen tried to stop him from proceeding but he got to the front door and saw what Kaylen had seen before.
Sitting in a corner table by the window on the side of the coffee shop, was Kristen�and her new boyfriend.